This invention relates to needle safe transfer devices and, in particular embodiments, to a medication transfer device that transfers fluid from a vial to a reservoir using a needle.
Traditionally, syringes are filled manually using a technique that requires the use of two hands, a syringe with a needle, and a vial. The process begins by drawing air into the body of the syringe, by pulling the plunger away from the needle end of the syringe until the volume of air in the body equals the volume of medication to be loaded into the syringe. The exposed needle is carefully aligned with a septum on the top of the vial and then inserted through the septum. The vial is turned upside down so that the medication covers the top of the vial and the depth of the needle is adjusted in the vial so that the needle tip is surrounded by the medication. Next, air is forced from the body of the syringe into the inverted vial, by pushing the plunger toward the needle end of the syringe until it is stopped at the end of the body. The user continues to hold the vial and the syringe in one hand, while using the other hand to pull back the plunger to draw out the desired volume of medication into the body of the syringe. Finally, the needle is pulled out of the vial and exposed. This process is generally conducted many times a day by care-givers, such as doctors and nurses, in care facilities, such as hospitals, nursing homes, or the like. It is also often carried out by patients at home that administer their own medication injections or use refillable infusion pumps.
One drawback to this method of filling a syringe is the user""s exposure to an unprotected needle tip. Care-givers and patients can be pricked or stabbed by needles during the filling process or when disposing of the syringe needle. Generally, the exposure occurs twice during the filling process. First, when the protective needle cap is removed before inserting the needle into the vial; and second, when removing the needle from the vial. Typically the vial is held by hand while the needle is pushed through the septum. Thus, if the needle is misdirected to either side of the septum, the user could inadvertently drive the needle tip into the hand holding the vial. The potential of stabbing oneself with the needle increases when patients are in a weakened state or are shaky when they need to insert the needle through the septum. Second, unintentional needle pricks can also occur when pulling the needle from the vial, at which point the consequences of the user stabbing oneself may be greater, since the syringe contents may not be safe for the care-giver.
An additional drawback to filling a syringe using the conventional method is the difficulty of keeping the needle in the vial, while simultaneously holding both the vial and the syringe and then pulling the plunger back to draw out the medication. Also, as the amount of medication in the vial decreases, it may be difficult to keep the needle tip at the appropriate depth within the vial during filling so that the tip of the needle is always completely surrounded by the medication to avoid drawing air back into the syringe.
To overcome some of these drawbacks, stabilizing devices, such as the EasyFill device from Disetronic of Sweden, have been used to support the syringe and vial. For instance, a syringe with a filling needle is slid sideways into the EasyFill device and held in place with semicircular tabs. After the needle is inserted into a septum of a vial, additional semicircular tabs on the EasyFill device slide over and around the outside of the top of the vial. This makes it easier to hold the syringe, needle, and vial, while filling the syringe with medication from the vial. However, there are still drawbacks to using the EasyFill device. For example, once the protective cap is removed from the filling needle in preparation for insertion into the vial, the needle tip is exposed beyond the end of the EasyFill device and potentially could stab the user. In addition, the needle must still be carefully aligned with the septum in the top of the vial before inserting the filling needle. Also, when the EasyFill device is fully engaged with the vial, the tip of the filling needle is often inserted too deeply into the vial so that some of the medication can not be drawn out from the vial, resulting in wasted medication. Finally, once the filling needle is removed from the vial, the needle tip is exposed a second time so that the user can be inadvertently pricked or stabbed by the filling needle.
According to an embodiment of the invention, a transfer guard is for use by an individual for transferring contents from a supply container into a receiver container and includes a supply adapter, a receiver adapter, a support structure and a needle. The supply adapter connects the supply container to the transfer guard, and the receiver adapter connects the receiver container to the transfer guard. The support structure couples the supply adapter with the receiver adapter, and the needle passes through the supply adapter and the receiver adapter. The needle is attached to one of the adapters for support and provides a passage for the contents to transfer from the supply container into the receiver container. The needle also includes at least one pointed end that is substantially protected by the transfer guard from contact with the user.
Other embodiments include a locking mechanism that may be engaged to keep the adapters from moving apart from each other. Still further embodiments include a locking mechanism to keep the adapters from moving closer to each other.
In particular embodiments of the present invention, the support structure facilitates moving the adapters closer or farther from each other. For instance, the support structure can include hinges that fold to facilitate the movement of one adapter with respect to the other adapter. In other embodiments, the support structure includes bands that bend to move one adapter in closer proximity to the other adapter. Alternatively, the support structure may be a foam member that is compressible, allowing one adapter to be moved closer to the other adapter. Further alternative embodiments use a support structure that is formed by at least two threaded parts that are screwed together to move one adapter in closer proximity to the other adapter. In still other alternative embodiments, the support structure includes at least two parts, where one of the parts has at least one slot and another of the parts has at least one pin that slides in the slot to move one adapter closer to the other adapter.
According to another embodiment, the transfer guard is for use by an individual to transfer contents from a supply container into a receiver container that has a needle. The transfer guard includes a supply adapter, a receiver adapter, and a support structure. The supply adapter connects the transfer guard to the supply container. The receiver adapter connects the transfer guard to the receiver container and/or needle (and/or a related needle support structure that is attached to the receiver container). The transfer guard support structure couples the supply adapter and the receiver adapter. In particular embodiments, once the receiver container is attached to the transfer guard, the needle tip is protected from contact with the individual by the transfer guard through out the process of filling the receiver container with contents from the supply container.
Further embodiments include a support structure that facilitates moving the adapters closer or farther from each other. The support structure may include hinges that fold to move one adapter closer to the other adapter.
Still further embodiments include a locking mechanism to keep the adapters from moving apart from one another, and other embodiments include a locking mechanism to keep the adapters from moving closer to each other.
According to yet another embodiment of the invention, a transfer guard is for use by an individual for transferring contents from a supply container into a receiver container and includes a supply adapter, a receiver adapter, a support structure, and a fluid conducting element. The supply adapter connects the supply container to the transfer guard, and the receiver adapter connects the receiver container to the transfer guard. The support structure couples the supply adapter with the receiver adapter. The fluid conducting element provides fluid communication through the supply and receiver adapters in order to establish a passage for contents to move from the supply container into the receiver container. In particular embodiments, the fluid conducting element is a needle that is attached to one of the adapters for support.
According to other embodiments of the invention, a transfer guard is for use by an individual for transferring contents from a supply container into a receiver container through a fluid conducting element that is protected from contact with the individual. The transfer guard includes a supply adapter, a receiver adapter, and a support structure. The supply adapter connects the supply container to the transfer guard, and the receiver adapter connects the receiver container to the transfer guard. The support structure couples the supply adapter with the receiver adapter, and facilitates movement of the adapters from a position farther away from each other to a position that the adapters are in closer proximity to each other. In particular embodiments, the support structure includes hinges that fold to move the adapters in closer proximity to each other. Alternative embodiments include a support structure that has a locking mechanism that may be used to keep the adapters from moving away from each other.
According to more embodiments of the invention, a transfer guard for use by an individual for transferring contents from a supply container to a receiver container that accepts the contents, includes a supply adapter, a receiver adapter, a fluid conducting element, and a support structure. The supply adapter mates with the supply container. The receiver adapter mates with the receiver container. And the fluid conducting element passes through the supply adapter and the receiver adapter. The fluid conducting element provides a passage for the contents to transfer from the supply container through both of the adapters into the receiver container. In addition, the fluid conducting element includes at least one point that is substantially protected by the adapters from contact with the individual. The support structure is coupled between the supply adapter and the receiver adapter to support the supply adapter, the receiver adapter, and the fluid conducting element, and the supply adapter and the receiver adapter remain substantially stationary with respect to each other. In preferred embodiments, the distance between the supply adapter and the receiver adapter is substantially constant. In particular embodiments the support structure is generally rigidly fixed. In other particular embodiments, the fluid conducting element includes two points that are substantially protected by the adapters from contact with the individual. In preferred embodiments, the fluid conducting element is a needle and the support structure includes at least two finger grips. Also, in preferred embodiments, the supply adapter is a slotted snap-on connector, although in other embodiments it is a Luer connector. In preferred embodiments, the receiver adapter is a reservoir connector, but in other embodiments the receiver adapter is a Luer connector.
Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of example, various features of embodiments of the invention.